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stagefoureddiediaz · 4 months ago

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911 and the Wizard of Oz!

So I’ve written a couple of times about the wizard of Oz connections that 911 has had in the past. Well after 8x03 and the trailer for 8x04 - everything has become much clearer to me and boy oh boy is Tim pulling a blinder with this one!

I need to start by saying he is playing on lore from both the original books as well as the film, so much of this wouldn’t be evident if you had little to no knowledge of the book series. I however do - because I loved the books as a child and I have also long been interested in the link between the books, the original film and the queer narrative that runs through them. Especially because of my yellow and blue and then blue and green colour theory and its use in telling queer narratives in cinema and television in the aftermath of the 1939 film.

For those who don’t know the background of it, you can read my post here about the wizard of oz and its queer narrative and the yellow/blue colour theme, but for a brief run down the wizard of oz and its themes have been a key part of the queer narrative since they first appeared in print and then on film. Yellow blue colour theory stems from Dorothys dress and the yellow brick road and became a film short hand for queer narratives in film, during the hays code era (1934-1968), and has continued on to this day. the most recent and most obvious use of the blue/yellow blue/green coding has been in heartsotopper - where it is very heavily and very cleverly used to help tell the queer narrative, but it is its use in films during the hays code where it was doing a lot of work to ‘secretly’ provide queer narrative in film. (this is a specialist subject of mine and I could write about it all day - I really would love to do a phd in it, but I do not have the money or time to do that so I write about it at any opportunity on tumblr!)

Many of the nods to the story are subtle, but they are there and I am going to go through a good number of them with you - especially the ones we’ve had in season 8 so far, the main thing to note right off the bat though is that they all connect in to Eddie and that is very telling to me - especially when we take 5x01 - 5x04 into account. the rest is below the cut becasue it's long!

The very first reference to the Wizard of Oz we get is in 202 - 7.1. We have the entitled woman (that is the name they gave the character in the credits!) with her dog - Paisley.The entitled woman is wearing red shoes and we get shown her with just her feet sticking out from under the rubble in a clear nod to the wicked witch of the east being buried under Dorothys house in Oz.

Kat the little girl who gets separated from her family and ultimately reunited with them is a nod to the overall story of Dorothy in the wizard of Oz - and Paisley is a nod to Toto - Dorothy’s dog. I will also mention the fact that we get a heart metaphor during this disaster - Jeff - the heart of a champion.

We get a further nod in season 2 in 207 - Haunted - where we have the girl at the halloween parade dressed as the film version of Dorothy. I don’t think there is a huge amount to read into from a Wizard of Oz perspective, beyond the fact that it is referenced - we don’t actually need to see anything further in regards to the Wizard of Oz - its all about making the connection.

This episode is a big episode of Eddie and his storyline and this is a way for 911 to link Eddie into the Wizard of Oz theme without being massively obvious about it and his absence from this scene is a key part of that.

There are other key elements in this scene that we’ve been seeing come into play over the seasons for Eddie and that is what makes the wizard of Oz reference especially interesting. First up it's important to note that this is the episode we see the return of Shannon in. We have the horse and his rider - being separated by the death of the horse and the officer describing the horse as his friend. There are two things this is playing on here - the first is the foreshadowing of Shannons death, the second is that the show has then reused this metaphor of partners being separated by death, this time making use of the police aspect as a part of Eddies breakdown in season 5 - Mills’s - Eddies partner while he was in the army and her death. These two elements are why Eddie absence is key - Eddie becomes the officer and Shannon or Mills becomes the Horse and having Eddie present in the scene waters down the metaphor.

The fact we get a lot of wizard of Oz references in season 5, makes this a really interesting and clever connection to draw. The other aspects of this scene in 207 is the pretty important reference about the horse needing a sedative to stop him thrashing around until his heart gave out. Bearing in mind this is the first really intentional heart metaphor we see on the show and it’s a pretty key episode for Eddie in relation to his heart, his absence from this scene becomes louder, especially as he is off with his heart (Christopher) enjoying halloween. It makes it clear that the Eddie and hearts metaphor has been there since very early on - and has been (at least loosely)connected to The Wizard of Oz.

Remembering what I said above and in my other post about the wizard of Oz being very heavily connected to queer theming and storytelling in media it makes it likely that this is the show putting in early building blocks for a queer Eddie arc gif they wanted to then go down that route later on. (this makes the season 5 theming I’ll talk about shortly even more interesting to me!)

The last thing to mention is the is the emphasis on the devil, a priest and a drag queen at the parade- all things we see appearing in Eddies arc through season n7 and into 8. The drag queens from the bachelor party - in which we really see Eddie letting go and have fun for the first time. The priest and the devil are a metaphor for Eddies struggles with his faith - the idea of temptation (in the catholic church - especially the devout catholic church, being queer in any way is seen as being tempted by the devil), and with us having knowledge of Eddie going to church and likely talking to a priest in some capacity in the next few episodes, we have yet another tie back to this storyline from 207.

Now I obviously have no proof with what the intentions were for ~Eddie in season 5, but I’ve long had my theories and now, knowing that they had originally intended to have Bucks bisexual arc take place in s5 but it got shut down by the higher ups, I can make some pretty educated guesses based off what we did get early on in the season.

Season 5 opened with the blackout and then we led straight in to 5x04 ‘Home and Away’ with all its yellow and blue colour theming. Can you see where I’m going with this? How does the opening of the film version of the Wizard of Oz start? Yup that’s right - in black and white and then when Dorothy finds herself over the rainbow everything is in colour and the use of yellow and blue is very strong with Dorothy’s blue gingham dress and the yellow brick road with the green colouring coming later on when they reach the emerald city.

So I think 911 was intending to play on that concept in season 5 - the idea that the black out is a nod to Kansas being in black and white (not to mention the use of green for the hackers!) and then 5x04 is a play on Dorothy following the yellow brick road - hence the heavy use of yellow and blue and the way it winds through the narrative of the episode (along with the use of the bluejay as the schools animal emblem - which is a symbol of communication, curiosity and confidence - seeing a bluejay is telling you to be bold and chase your goals!). What is the other thing we get a huge number of references to in season 5 - especially connected to Eddie - hearts and heart metaphors.

We do also get a nod to the wizard of Oz in season 6 and the zeppelin disaster - which is a nod to the hot air balloon the wizard crashed into Oz in. The zeppelin is yellow and blue and the conversation on board refers to one of the pilots mother in law - whilst she isn’t stated to be a witch, the implication is there. the 110 is also closed in roughly the same place as we get it closed in 8x03. along with the fact that Eddie is the one to go into the zeppelin - Chim and Buck only partially go in - and the parallel storyline in the episode is about a heart issue, we once again have The Wizard of Oz being tied into heart metaphors.

Let’s move on to season 8 now and look at the vast number of Wizard of Oz references we have seen so far and appear to have coming up in 8x04. I will say the sheer number of references in season 8 compared with the more subtle ones from seasons 5 and 6 is one of the reasons I’m so very sure we have a queer Eddie arc going on - that they’ve finally been able to pull that trigger and move things forward for him.

Just remember that things don’t have to exactly follow the story of the wizard of Oz to be relevant - its not about the narrative following the same path, but more about the use of recognised aspects and tropes from the book and film to convey information and aid the storytelling. It is often more about the concept and meaning behind something and a 911 character may share the traits of more than one wizard of oz character because it is their traits that are relevant not necessarily TWoO characters full journey through the book or film.

The bee-nado is a literal reference to the tornado that sent Dorothy to oz - its one of the reasons we don’t see more of the bees - they serve their purpose in the same way the tornado does so we don’t need to see them again.

Gerrard building ‘his 118’ with a security fence around the firehouse and cast iron plumbing is a reference to the wizard building the Emerald city - which has a wall around it for security. In Oz it is the place full o the most up to date technology etc. So Gerrard is building his Emerald City.

The mother in the car falling asleep due to anaphylaxis is likely a reference to the poppy field in the film version of TWoO, along with the flowers at the perfume launch and Bucks statement that ‘smoke worked last time’ - because the smoke did make the bees sleepy like the poppies made Dorothy and her friends sleepy.

Bucks plan to have Eddie run and attract the the swarm of bees is a reference to an event that happens in the book. The wicked witch sends a swarm of bees to sting them to death. The tin man and scarecrow had seen them coming and scarecrow comes up with a plan - he has Dorothy, toto and the lion covered in his straw to hide them from the bees who only find the tin man - they try to sting him but it breaks their stings and kills them instead without hurting the tin man as he is impervious to bees by nature of being made of tin. What we see happen in 801 is very clearly placing Buck into the role of Scarecrow and Eddie into the role of tin man - Buck comes up with the plan and Eddie undertakes it successfully - his turnouts protecting him from the bees just like the tin man being made of tin protected him.

Gerrard hitting his head is a reference to Dorothy hitting her head in the tornado and waking up in Oz - its a reference to Dororthy’s line ‘Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore’ - its a play on the fact that the 118 is a very different place to when Gerrard was removed first time. Gerrard represents the black and white world - outdated and not up with the times (which he wasn’t back in the day either but that’s kind of the point), the world (the 118) is now in glorious technicolour since his departure and Gerrard will end up back in a black and white world in the end while the rest of the 118 will remain in colour and move forward. This places Gerrard in the role of the Wizard, but it is more akin to the book wizard than the film wizard - originally in the books (it was later glossed over as it didn’t go down well with readers) the Wizard arrives in a hot air balloon and becomes ruler of Oz by usurping he King and handing over the princess to a witch (more on this later!). As is shown in the film, he leaves Oz to return home in a hot air balloon. If Gerrard is the wizard, this makes Bobby the king (usurped from his throne at the 118) and Hen becomes Ozma (this is something I will talk about a bit later as it deserves its own section!) which fits with how we are being shown Hen being given the 118 captains role on a more frequent basis - suggesting the show is transitioning her into becoming the captain down the line.

Tia, her dog and Jordan are an interesting trio - they are a very clear parallel serve as a multi layered allegory as they play on several aspects of the film and books, as well as linking to aspects of 911 and especially on Buck and Eddies storyline.

Firstly we have the dog - who is the same type of dog as Paisley from season 2 - right down to the red bow in the hair (which is encouraging us to draw parallels with the earthquake disaster). Both dogs are a nod to Toto - Dorothy’s dog in the Wizard of Oz. The dog is also a representation of Buck, but I’ll go into that when I talk about Buck below!

Tia represents both Dorothy and the tin man, we see her initially as, not heartless, but guarded, but she softens especially when we see her following the instructions Hen gives, and bonding with various people on the plane including Jordan, in much the same way we see the tin man do for Dorothy and scarecrow. She is also a representation of Eddie (again I’ll go into this more later on)

Jordan is a reference to both the flying monkeys (through his telephone conversation he is implied to be a business monkey which is in turn a play on monkey business - behaviour that causes discomfort our annoyance) and the cowardly lion. He is also a reference to Chopfyt who only appears in the books and is a man made from the parts of others and is a reference to Tommy, which I will explain later as well!

its worth pointing out that Jordans viagra fuelled boner is hidden under a rainbow towel and when they get off the plane Tia, Jordan and the dog are sat on a yellow tarpaulin - the implication being that they are still in Oz and over the rainbow, but that isn't real life - its fake - a dream - and reaity will set back in once they are able to go home.

Buck has 2 red flares to bring the plane home - symbolic of the red slippers - click three times and say there’s no place like home.

There is a lot of yellow and blue lighting used in combination - especially around Buck and Eddie.

The green lighting on the plane after it has landed - a reference to leaving the Emerald city and Oz and going home.

Im sure there are others that I may have missed, but these are the key ones, and most of them will likely remain in play in some capacity in the upcoming episodes.

As for the potential upcoming oz references, we have the following

the tiger in 804 is likely a reference to lions and tigers and bears. Oh my! from the film, but may also be a reference to the hungry tiger from the books - who is a tiger who is never full and desires to eat a fat baby but never would as his conscience would never allow him to. He is described in the books as the largest and most powerful of his kind and is one of Ozmas chariot drivers and is friends with the cowardly lion. The Tiger reference coming in no place like home and the books connection of the tiger with Princess Ozma and the cowardly lion makes me feel like Karen may be represented by and paralleled with the tiger, and the idea that Karens conscience won’t allow her to metaphorically eat Ortiz (the fat baby) but that is purely speculation on my part!

the pumpkin stuck on a head storyline that’s been hinted at coming up in 805 - in the books there is a character called Jack pumpkin head who is made by the Princess Ozma when she is Tip and then brought to life by magic (Ozma is the rightful ruler of Oz and was given to the Witch Mombi of the North by the wizard in order to prevent he rightful ruler of Oz ascending the throne. Ozma is transformed into a boy called Tip by Mombi, but is later turned back when Glinda discovers what has happened). Im expecting this arc on the show to play into Jack’s storyline in the books. Jack refers to having lost a father when Tip is returned to being Ozma. I think we’ll see it played as a reference to Mara, Chim and Hen, because Hen is Very Ozma coded which I’ll explain a bit more later on!

Masks. with 805 being titled masks it feels very loaded towards the Wizard of oz and the fact he wears different masks (in the book) depending on who he is meeting with. He appears to Dorothy as a giant head (as we see used in the film), to the Scarecrow as a lovely lady, to the Tin Woodman as a terrible beast, and to the cowardly Lion as a ball of fire. He does this with the intention of scaring them all, but in all cases has chosen the wrong image to make the desired impression. there is of course the fact that the mask slips (the curtain gets pulled away by Toto) and the truth of the Wizard is revealed - that he is a fraud - merely a man who has been using magic tricks to make himself seem great and powerful.

these are just the ones we know about, there may very likely be more revered once we’ve seen the episodes, for example we might get a play on Eddie in church and going to confession - the idea of hiding ones identity behind a screen.

I want to talk a bit about the specifics of the firefam, and how they fit into the concept in a more detailed way. Obviously all members of the firefam fit into multiple aspects of each of the 4 main characters in Oz, but they each have one that has a stronger pull than the others. Each one of the characters in the books and film have specific traits that form their personality and a key part of their narrative - Dorothy wants to get home, The lion wants courage, the scarecrow a brain and the tin man a heart. These are all allegories for the bigger picture.

Dorothy wants to go home, yes, but that is part of her bigger desire to belong - the books reveal much more about her past and upbringing in Kansas. She is also the first person in the wider story - it is her journey that sets in motion all of the other ones.

The cowardly lion is in fact not cowardly, but incredibly brave, and a loyal friend, he is just full of self doubt because he believes his fear makes him inadequate as lions are supposed to be the king of beasts. we see him overcome that self doubt and go onto succeed - becoming a well respected and important member of Ozma'z court.

The scarecrow wants a brain but is in fact shown to be the smartest of the group - coming up with clever plans and sharing a great depth of knowledge the also becomes the ruler of the Emerald city - appointed by the wizard when he leaves, and it is stated by the tin man in one of the later books the he is ‘probably the wisest man in all Oz’

The Tin man wants a heart, but in fact is one of the most tender, emotional, considerate and caring people in Oz as well as being extremely competent and practical. He is also shown to seize up and rust due to either the rain or his tears. In the books he is given more backstory - his axe was enchanted by the wicked witch of the east and it causes him to chop off his body parts limb by limb. The witch does this because he is win love with her ward Nimmie Amee. when he chops out his heart he feels his could no longer love her and so left. he does later try to find his long lost love but is left disappointed when he finds her married to a man made up of his body parts and those of another tin man called Captain Fyter who had also been enchanted by the witch for the same reason. she refuses to leave her man of parts and tin man and scarecrow return to the emerald city together.

The Tin man and the scarecrow sit very much in parallel with one another in both the books and the 1939 film, they are very much a pair and shown to be each others foil and in the books especially spend a long time debating with one another about the relative importance of the brain and heart, but in combination with one another form a perfect whole.

With the main characters of Oz covered we can explore the way 911 is using their traits to tell the stories of our firefam, but before we do that I want to look at a few other key 911 characters and how they relate to the wizard of oz!

Bobby in my opinion is Glinda the good witch - he shares a lot of traits with her. It is Ginda who helps restore Oz (the 118) to its fully unified state - something that had ceased to be under the Wizard and the wicked witches rule in separate counties. She also tends not to meddle or interfere in Ozian matters unless requested to do so. This fits with bobby’s traits very well - he doesn’t tend to get involved in things unless pushed to do so or asked directly. Much earlier in Oz’s history Glinda also helps redeem the tyrannical king of Oz through the creation of the forbidden fountain and the waters of oblivion - the king drank the water and then forgets his cruel and nefarious intentions. bobby replacing Gerrard at the 118 fits fairly well into this theme.

Ortiz is an interesting one - she fits into bot the role of The wizard, as well as the wicked witch of the west. I think that Ortiz is the wizard in part because the name Ortiz can loosely be read a s a play on ‘wiz’ as in wizard, but also because she is the most powerful person in the show right now - and it is all built on lies and corruption - much like the wizard is in Oz! However as the film unfolds we are shown that the witch is in fact more powerful than the wizard, but is also eventually easily brought down. This is why I think she is also a reference to the wicked witch, but also because the witch controls the flying Monkeys - who serve as her lackeys and undertake her bidding.

Gerrard is both the Wizard of Oz and a flying monkey. I wrote above about the wizard hiding behind screens and masks and and Gerrard and I wrote about Gerrard building fences around the 118 being reference to the wizard building the emerald city. The flying monkey connection is obvious - he is working under Ortiz.

Tommy fits into a couple of different characters. He is in my opinion most closely connected to Chopfyt and Nimmie Amee, but he also fits into the meaning of the flying monkeys. Chopfyt is made up of the parts of the Tin woodman and Captain Fyter (the tin soldier) who are rivals for the attention of Nimmie Amee who is married to Chopfyt but was at one time courted by the tin man and the tin soldier. Captain Fyter and the Tin Woodman become friends during their journey to find Nimmie Amee. The flying monkey connection is perhaps a more obvious of the three, the monkeys are subservient to the wicked witch of the west and in the begins episodes we are shown Tommy being very much under Gerrard wing through his behaviour. It is also worth nothing that the flying Monkeys in the book drop the tin man over shape rocks leaving him so dented he could not move and they pull the scarecrow apart, scattering his straw and throwing his clothes up a tree - Dorothy is able to repair them both with the aid of the Winkies (the people under the control of the wicked witch of the west) and Dorothy then commands the flying monkeys to take them to the Emerald city.

The meaning of these character connections is clear to me - Tommy as Nimmie Amee courts first the tin man (Eddie) and then the Tin Soldier (Buck) but chooses Chopfyt in the long run. Tommy is made up of parts of both Buck and Eddie in the same way that Chopfyt is made up of parts of Tin man and Captain Fyter. The fact neither Tin man or the Tin soldier succeed with Nimmie Amee and that she choses Chopfyt is telling and possibly gives us clues about the eventual demise of Buck and Tommys relationship and suggests that as tommy fits both characters parts (both characters who are fairly small roles in the books and are plot devices - much in the same way as Tommy is in 911), he will ultimately choose himself (as we’ve already seen him do in 705).

Onto the 4 remaining members of the firefam, and I believe Chimney is for the moist part, meant to be Dorothy - he is the first member of the firefam in the same way Dorothy is, he fits a lot more of the Dorothy tropes from the book than the film shows, he is described as the heart of the 118 - which is basically what Dorothy represents in the books and film - she is the one who keeps everyone together, or brings them back together when they have been separated. And if we follow the theming of Gerrard being the wicked witch of the west, it becomes more apparent - in the books Dorothy is enslaved by the wicked witch and forced to carry out menial cleaning tasks - in much the same way we see Chim being treated by Gerrard in Chim begins. It is Chim who we are shown supporting Hen, Buck, and Eddie as they begin their careers at the 118.

The other thing of note - which currently doesn’t fully work, but will if, as I suspect, the wizard of oz references around Eddie are a part of his Queer journey - is that Chimney is the only one of the four members of the team (we are not including Bobby as he is the captain) who has no queer coding in any way and is in a heterosexual marriage. The reason this is important and plays into the idea of Chim being Dorothy is that the term ‘Friend of Dorothy’ is coded speak for being queer - I explain it further in my meta which I linked at the top of this post - the play is that Dorothy herself is not queer, but that her companions on her journey down the yellow brick road are. Which fits Chimney perfectly - with Hen and Buck being Lesbian and bi respectively and with the Wizard of Oz connections to Eddies storylines across the previous seasons and again in the current season being very loud, it feels fair to assume that Eddie will also sit somewhere on the queer spectrum before too long (and really is the reason behind me writing this insanely long post!)

Hen is the cowardly lion. We are shown Hen doubting her abilities at several points throughout the show, but she is arguably the bravest of the 118. The cowardly lion’s favoured companion is the hungry tiger (as I wrote about above - we may well see Karen paralleled with the tiger in 804)

But Hen is also Princess Ozma and this is a far more powerful connection. Ozma is the rightful heir to the throne of Oz and spent much of her childhood in the form of a boy called Tip as she had been enchanted by the witch Mombi until Glinda the good witch discovers the enchantment and forces Mombi to return her to her true form and take her rightful place as ruler of Oz. With Bobby filling the role of Glinda, helping Hen achieve her full potential and the allegory of Hen having to hide herself for much of her life until she becomes a firefighter - the wig we see Hen wearing in Hen begins plays into this idea perfectly - that Hen was disguised but has been freed from that disguise and become her true self.

Buck is the scarecrow. But he is also Toto and Captain Fyter. I explained the Captain Fyter connection above in the section on Tommy so I won’t repeat myself here. Buck is toto for a couple of reasons. Firstly we have the connection to the dog in the plane in season 8 who growls at Jordan and Tia tells him that the dog doesn’t like men, he then becomes friendly when Jordan is ill, but we see him returned to Tia when they leave the plane. this is all a allegory for Buck’s bi arc. Tia is Eddie in the scenario and Tommy is Jordan . The dog growling and being protective is akin to Buck growling and becoming jealous over Eddie and Tommys friendship, trying to keep Tommy away from Eddie, but then becoming friendly with Tommy in the same way the dog becomes friendly with Jordan in a therapy dog kind of way before returning to Tia at the end, implying that Buck will always go back to Eddie when it comes down to it. the therapy dog aspect is also interesting as it implies BUck is providing some kind of therapy for Tommy - this could be read as Buck helping Tommy learn and grown (likely in connection with his still undressed past behaviour) - makes him a better person, before they part ways and Buck ‘returns’ to Eddie.

Then there is the wizard of oz references - it is Toto who sets much of the plot of the wizard of Oz in motion - by biting Almira Gulch in Kansas in the film version and by hiding under the bed in fright in the book version. It is Toto who reveals the truth of the Wizard of Oz being just a man, and it is Toto who leads The lion, scarecrow, and tin man to where Dorothy is after she has been captured by the wicked witch (in the film - he is less involved in the book!) and it is toto who stops Dorothy from leaving with the Wizard and ultimately leads to Dorothy learning the slippers she wears can carry her home if she clicks her heels together 3 times and wishes to go home. All of these events either play into Bucks arcs in 911 or will potentially going forward. Bucks impulsive ways could be said to mirror Toto’s impulsive actions in TWoO and it will be interesting to see if being taken under Gerrard wing leads to him gaining information that helps Hen take down Ortiz!

The biggest connection though is with the scarecrow. The scarecrow has long been associated with bisexuality - due to his line in the film ‘of course some people go both ways’. in the book the scarecrow also reveals that he lacks a brain but greatly desires one - he is in fact only 2 days old when Dorothy meets him so he is essentially just naive because as the book progresses it becomes increasingly clear he actually is very intelligent and knows many things. One of the other aspects of the scarecrow is his ability to know his own limitations and in the books he becomes ruler of Emerald city, but hands the crown over to Princess Ozma enabling her to take up her rightful position as ruler of all Oz, becoming one of her most trusted advisors. Most of these are traits that Buck shares with the scarecrow - we see season 1 buck reflected in the naijvtie of a 2 day old scarecrow, but once he hits his stride, we see that Buck is actually very intelligent, full of knowledge (random facts wiki Buck!) and comes up with great ideas - things that are being very clearly demonstrated in season 8 so far. He is also becoming much much better at knowing his limitations and that is something I think we will continue to see develop in the way it does in the scarecrow across the books.

And finally we have Eddie. Eddie is the Tin man through and through. The heart metaphors that surround Eddie - especially in season 5 are a very obvious and direct link to the tin man. and Like I said above the Tin man is the most compassionate, sensitive and tender and caring people in Oz. He is incredibly practical and competent as well and undertakes the scarecrows plans readily. He and the scarecrow pair up a lot across the book series and go on adventures together, their heart and brains combining to lead them to success in nearly all cases. The tin man also becomes a trusted advisor to Ozma and is considered to be a fair and wise person in Oz. These are all things we see portrayed in Eddie. He has this tough exterior, but inside he is very soft and tender and he only reveals that side of himself to those he can trust. Eddies heart is a key part of Buck and Eddies dynamic especially in combination with Bucks brains - we are so often shown Buck having an idea and Eddie carrying it out because he trusts Buck - the perfume bee run is just the latest in a long line of them and it is a key aspect of the Tin man and Scarecrow in the Oz books. I’ve spoken above about the other aspects of the tin man and his connection with various characters, but it really is the tin man and scarecrow dynamic that is at the heart of things in the wonderful wizard of Oz book especially (pun intended!!).

All of it plays into the Oz theming we’re being shown in 911 having an important meaning and it is very much connected to Eddie far more than any other character. One can argue that the books - at their core - are about following your heart and letting it lead you to your truth and to home and that is the very heart of Eddies story. Carla’s line about making sure he’s following his heart and not Christophers rings very true, and we’ve reached a point now where Eddie has to follow his own heart, because Christopher is not in the picture and they’ve chosen to go very very hard with the wizard of Oz metaphors - building on the foundations they already created in previous seasons and now being able to bring them to fruition.

I could literally write about this all day, but this is already ridiculously long and I'm not sure it even makes sense at this point! It was only supposed to be a short post! So I’m stopping here and letting you all go back to your lives - thank you for reading especially if you've made it this far! and let me know your thoughts!💜💜💜🐝🌪🌈

Tagging a few random people just in case they're interested! @buddiediaz118 @buddie911abc @fruityfirehose @sunflowerdigs

@spotsandsocks @livingwherethesidewalkends @satvojihusana @inell @eddiedisasterdiaz @lemotmo @courtjestermerlin @lover-of-mine @lovecolibri

#kym writes very long meta!#long meta #sorry this wasn't meant to be this many words!#911 does the wizard of oz #911 abc #911 meta #the wizard of oz #the wizard of oz and queer narrative #eddie diaz #evan buckley #buddie #anti bucktommy #anti tommy kinard #911 spoilers

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mryoyo000 · 2 months ago

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“Wicked” Book and Musical Thoughts (SPOILERS)

in advance: these are just my personal thoughts—I am not trying to force my opinion on anyone and I welcome any disagreement!

SPOILERS (also long sorry) also for the sake of writing this I actually went back and reread Wicked for the first time in several years.

I think it might be helpful for people to consider that Wicked the book, and Wicked the musical, are not just different in terms of plot and tone, they are ultimately telling two different stories with different goals. If you are having a hard time reconciling the musical/movie to the book or vice versa, this might be one way to look at it.

I think the differences ultimately add up to two entirely different stories. The book is a lot darker, definitely not written for younger audiences, and it also has a very different scope. The musical is about Elphaba, and primarily it’s focused on Elphaba’s relationship with Glinda. The book is attempting to tell a sort of epic scale story (whether or not it succeeds in that) about the times in Oz during Elphaba’s life—and Glinda has significantly less overall prominence and presence than in the musical.

I don’t think you can overestimate the significance of this difference. This might be one of the most fundamental differences between the book and the show/movie—Glinda is central to the musical, but only one among an ensemble in the book. I have critiques about the book which I won’t get into in depth here, but this is NOT one of them and I actually think that, for what the book is trying to be (which is NOT what the musical is trying to be), Glinda’s relative lack of prominence is the right decision. The book goes through a number of perspectives before reaching Elphaba herself, and all of these other voices are among the people in her life who either died and/or became estranged from her. (Elphaba does not become the point of view until she’s reached the point where she starts referring to herself as “the Witch.”) In the book, Glinda functions as one among many of Elphaba’s relationships that fell apart and failed over time—there cannot be a central relationship between them in the book because the book is telling a story about Elphaba losing everyone in her life.

So the book is not trying to be “about” Elphaba and Glinda, and the story it is telling about Elphaba is a lot bleaker than the one that the musical is telling.

Elphaba’s story in the book is about loss, and also about failure. I think this is also one thing that causes the book to be controversial. Elphaba is unable to succeed in the book—for all of her revolutionary sympathies, she is constantly prevented (narratively) from making any actual difference. The sad joke of the book is that the “wicked witch of the west” title wasn’t given to Elphaba even out of spite—it was transferred to her because Nessarose was already being called the wicked witch of the east. Elphaba isn’t even treated as a wicked witch for the most part—she’s seen as an oddity, and she’s more mocked than feared.

for anyone reading this post who is also an ASOIAF reader, I would make comparisons between Elphaba and Catelyn, since in the book Elphaba’s final confrontation with Dorothy shows her at her most broken (she is only called the Witch at this point) after an entire book’s worth of loss, and of seeing all of her hopes never come to fruition.

the tragedy of the musical is that Elphaba was never evil, just misunderstood and labeled by others.

the tragedy of the book is that in the last moments of her life, Elphaba really did become the wicked witch, after a lifetime of being broken down. She was genuinely threatening to kill Dorothy out of paranoia.

It’s a strangely private scene though, because Dorothy is the only person who witnesses Elphaba’s final breakdown. This moment of real “wickedness” is only seen by Dorothy, no one else in the story knows about it, and it ends anyway with Elphaba’s destruction.

There is a lot more to get into as far as differences (Glinda is an entirely different character, so are Boq and Nessarose etc.) but I think I wanted to mainly focus here on Elphaba and also to say that I think the book is at least worth reading to find out how you personally feel about it. last but not least but also not relevant to the post as much, I would say that out of the Gregory Maguire books I’ve read, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister is my favorite and I would personally say that I think it’s better than Wicked, both as a book in its own right and as a reworking of a classic story. I would recommend it as an introduction to Maguire’s writing even before Wicked, because it’s a more focused and smaller story and I think it has stronger characterization. It has typically Maguire sardonic dialogue but overall is less cynical than Wicked, so it’s less heavy—no need to slog through fascist dystopia Oz with this one.

#wicked #wicked the life and times of the wicked witch of the west #wicked the book #wicked the musical #elphaba thropp #glinda #galinda upland #catelyn stark #catelyn tully #gregory maguire #confessions of an ugly stepsister

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sepublic · 3 months ago

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Luz loves the Good Witch Azura, who guides her not in a literal sense but metaphorically; It’s a reference to the Wizard of Oz, which has the Good Witch of the North and the Good Witch of the South! Luz is Dorothy, a young American girl transported to another world, who starts her journey with a magical item (Ruby Slippers/Portal) that is a way back to the home she misses. I guess you could say Eda and/or Lilith fit the Good Witch roles, too!

Remember her girlfriend Amity’s favorite book Otabin, whose titular protagonist found friends in the Tin Boy and Chicken Witch? Tin Boy, Tin Man; An anthropomorphic animal like the Cowardly Lion; And someone connected to sewing, such as the Scarecrow! I guess that also makes Amity a Dorothy of her own, given how much all three (who like in the film, aren’t exactly real) comfort her… Luz and Amity parallels!!!

King is Toto as the cute animal sidekick… And perhaps Willow, Gus, and Amity are the three sidekicks, representing their goals; Willow wishes she wasn’t so cowardly and could stand up for herself, Gus wishes he wasn’t so dumb for being tricked by others, and Amity wishes she had a heart to be a good friend!

And Hunter was Prince William at one point… Later in her journeys, Dorothy meets Princess Ozma, who is meant to be the rightful ruler of the land! Just as William is implied to be.

I’d also point out that Lilith dresses like the Wicked Witch of the West, during her tenure in the coven; She’s also the first ‘Wicked Witch’ that Luz has to face, so in that regard she’s the Wicked Witch of the East. She goes after Luz for the sake of the magical artifact that can bring her back home, though in Lilith’s case she doesn’t know this.

That’s because Belos is the true Wicked Witch of the West, a green witch who wants the magical item the protagonist starts the journey with, that is a way back home. He melts in water, a reference to real-life witch hunts drowning many of the accused in water. But he’s also the Wizard of Oz, a human man from the protagonist’s world who got stuck here before her, puts on the great facade of a powerful magic wielder ruling a city, but is in truth just a con artist who plans to go back home, and offers the protagonist the same. He wants witches dead…

#The Owl House #Wizard of Oz #Otabin #The Wizard of Oz #Luz Noceda #Amity Blight #Lilith Clawthorne #Emperor Belos #Philip Wittebane

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rexshadaoart · 1 month ago

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Glinda the Good

Glinda, the Good Witch of the South. Not to be confused for Galinda Upland, the Good Witch of the North from Wicked. This Glinda is based on the books, and she is consistently portrayed as a very ancient, powerful, and wise witch. Essentially a goddess in all but name. Nearly every illustration of Glinda from the books depict her as very tall and beautiful, towering over everyone else, especially over Ozma and Dorothy as one Glinda of Oz book cover showed.

Naturally, to design my own take, I set up a few design rules for myself:

1) Make her like a Greek goddess. A stunning stature that would cause everyone fall in love with her. I mainly took inspiration from Palutena from the Kid Icarus series since I wanted to give her a potential mischievous aura to offset any stoic nature of the character. I also took inspiration from the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio to incorporate an otherworldly feel to her (at least compared to Dorothy and Ozma).

2) Use Galinda as a reference of what not to do with my take. The MGM movie infamously depicted Glinda as this bubbly, fairy princess that flies in a bubble and constantly smiles all the time. Galinda from Wicked cements that take and deconstructs that archetype as being insensitive to real issues and clearly being a mask of insecurity. Not to say the character is bad, it's just not how I see Glinda as. Maybe Elphaba and Galinda can be their own characters separated from the originals...

3) Looking at the book's description and motifs related to Glinda. According to the book, Glinda has deep rich red hair, blue eyes, and peachy cheeks with a pure white dress. She is also the ruler of the Quadling Country, whose primary color was Red. Glinda's red hair proved to be useful to make her clothes focus on white and silver colors as I found red to be very distracting unless it's close to Glinda's face, which the red hair excels at. Of course, as a little homage to the MGM movie, I gave her a pair of red ruby slippers underneath her dress. Glinda was also said to travel on a chariot pulled by swans and storks, so I designed Glinda with a bird wing motifs. You may actually notice that her crown has several swans at the front, and her cape is meant evoke wings of a bird.

To capture the mythical, goddess aspect of Glinda, I used the Procreate Symmetry tool to give Glinda's character model a sense of perfection and orderliness to contrast Ozma's more tomboyish approach to being a ruler. The only thing that is not symmetrical is her arms since I need her to hold a wand.

The funny thing about designing Glinda is that she is never actually seen wielding a wand, staff or even scepter in the official illustrations. At best, she has a book in her hand. So all I had to go by was the classic star wand from MGM. But I felt that a star wand would be not be regal enough for Glinda but luckily, I had stumbled upon a flag banner in Santa Barbara during my winter vacation which had a star shape that feels like a star and royalty. I actually debated on whether the wand should be ruby or silver, but I ultimately chose silver with ruby highlights.

Next up on my Oz takes will be the Good Witch of the North and the Wicked Witch of the East. Hopefully, I'll be able to redesign Mombi yet again to fit with these witch designs.

#my art stuff #procreate #land of oz #wizard of oz #glinda the good witch #glinda #wicked 2024 #oz series #galinda upland #good witch #good witch of the south #my art #goddess #palutena #swans #birds #red hair #beautiful redhead

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thelunarfairy · 1 year ago

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The Wizard of Oz and Hanako-kun

I will confess that I felt like rewatching the film about the great Wizard of Oz after seeing the references in the manga. Haha, the feeling of nostalgia when seeing it again after so long is really good. It ended up that I found myself daydreaming about the film and why Aidairo used it as an explicit reference, that is, she made it very clear that it was about that story, so I started comparing the two.

Come with me and see what I discovered. Remembering that I'm comparing the manga to the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz" I'm not going to compare it to the book because I have to reread it (my memory isn't the best).

Let's start.

One day, Dorothy came running home in despair, her poor dog had entered the yard of an evil neighbor. She told her aunt and uncle what had happened, but they were too busy to listen to her. One of the friends from the farm says that the dog insists on going into her yard, so Dorothy should be smart and not go there anymore.

One day, Tsukasa came running home excited, told his brother that he had found something under the house. Amane, the older brother, seemed a little incredulous and Tsukasa continued going to that place where the thing was, even though it was dangerous.

Then, the evil neighbor knocks on Dorothy's door and tells her that she is taking the dog to be euthanized. The girl fights against it, but her uncles allow the neighbor to take him, she goes to her room and cries.

So, Tsukasa decides to sacrifice himself, even though Amane clearly loves him, he leaves and stays next to the thing under the house that is responsible for taking him. Amane stays in her room and cries while looking at the window.

After a while, the dog runs away and returns home, Dorothy is happy and decides to run away with him, but changes her mind when she meets a fake magician who advises her to return home because her aunt and uncle would suffer in her absence.

After a while, Tsukasa returns home, Amane is happy, but their mother decides to take him to be purified, those responsible for the temple advise the mother to return home, which she does.

When Dorothy returns, a tornado is causing chaos, she desperately searches for her family, but they are already gone, she enters the house trying to protect herself, along with her dog.

When Tsukasa returns, everything becomes chaos, at some point Amane decides to take his own brother's life, leaving his family while making this decision alone and taking his own life.

Dorothy and the dog are taken to another world (place) after being taken away by the tornado.

Amane and Tsukasa are taken to the supernatural world after the murder and suicide (let's interpret this as chaos, tornado)

Dorothy meets the Witch of the North, who tells her that she became known for killing the Witch of the East. The house had fallen on top of her, leaving only the ruby slippers. The Witch of the North says that in order for her to return home she will have to be careful with the Witch of the East (the sister of the wicked witch who wants the shoes) and that she should go after the Wizard of Oz. The Witch of the North gives Dorothy the shoes.

Amane becomes known as Hanako, and he says that in order for him to be forgiven and free himself from the supernatural world he needs to do things at God's command, he has to be careful with exorcists and he seems to have a goal. The item that Hanako gains, or rather the item that remains with him, is his knife.

Dorothy on her journey meets the scarecrow, the one who seeks a brain, the tin man, the one who wants a heart, and the lion, the one who wants courage.

Hanako on his journey meets Mitsuba, Yashiro and Kou. Mitsuba, the one who wants to be remembered, who wants to remember the past, Yashiro, the one who wants to love and be loved by someone, and Kou, the one who doesn't have enough courage or strength to go against his family or do what is necessary to protect that He loves.

Together, they go on a journey so they can fulfill their desires. Dorothy wants to go home, the scarecrow wants to be smart, the Tin Man wants to love and feel what it's like to be loved, and the lion wants to have the courage to be king. They travel together in search of the Wizard of Oz, the one who will make their wishes come true. The evil witch got in their way.

Together, they go on a journey so they can fulfill their own desires, Yashiro wanted a boyfriend and to be valued, Mitsuba was trying to make people remember him after his death, and Kou was trying to become stronger to prove to his brother that he was a good exorcist. Together they were trying to fulfill their desires, while Tsukasa and his companions hindered them along the way.

When they finally meet the Wizard of Oz, he tells them that he will only grant their wish when they do something for him. Dorothy and the other three were supposed to get the evil witch's broom, and so the magician would fulfill his promise.

The God says he will grant a wish to anyone who removes all of Yorishiro's seals. Hanako and the other two do so. They remove the seals along the journey.

When Dorothy finally manages to get the witch's broomstick, she unintentionally kills her. So, she goes back to the magician and discovers that he is the same fake magician she encountered when she ran away with her dog. The magician tells her that he doesn't need to grant their wishes, because from the beginning they already had everything they needed. The lion had the courage to go through that whole adventure alongside Dorothy, the tin man showed more feelings for his friends than any other man, and the scarecrow was smart enough to help them get to Oz.

And Dorothy? She had her shoes, the ones that would take her home. Then she asks why the witch of the North hadn't said it before, and she says that Dorothy should go through all that so she could learn.

In the end, the new rulers of Oz were the lion, the scarecrow and the tin man, while the fake magician leaves in a balloon, Dorothty goes home alone, waking up from her dream.

She realizes that the best place was her home.

The moral of the story is to show that they sought and desired what they already had and that even if they said it, they wouldn't believe it. It was necessary for them to go through that to understand that they didn't need anything from the beginning.

That they didn't need to wish for anything.

We don't know the ending of JSHK to compare it with the Wizard of Oz, but you can understand that if Tsukasa had never wished anything, he would always have been at home, he would never have left and nothing that happened throughout the story, would happen. But he had to go through all of this to learn that from the beginning he had what he needed.

Hahaha, it was really fun to make this comparison, I don't know if it will make sense to you but I liked it. I didn't compare it to the book, I need to read it again.

I don't know if it was on purpose or if it was just coincidences, but I found it very interesting. It's funny how the plot can easily associate itself with the premise of the Wizard of Oz story, even though JSHK has nothing to do with Oz, it seems like they follow the same narrative path. And the story being referenced in such a clear way for us shows that it has a meaning in the end.

In the end, they all just wanted to fulfill one wish, that's it

Everything begins and ends with a wish, whether in JSHK or the Wizard of Oz.

Hahaha, you don't need to take any of this seriously, I did it for fun, but I hope you liked it ♡

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dixonsdarkelf · 2 months ago

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Hiii 💜 (sorry for so many questions 😅)

🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction?

🛼 ⇢ describe your latest wip with five emojis

🥑 ⇢ you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love

🌻 ⇢ tag someone you appreciate but don't talk to on a regular basis

🧸 ⇢ what's the fastest way to become your mutual?

📚 ⇢ what's the last thing you wrote down in your notes app?

❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

🥐 ⇢ name one internet reference that will always make you laugh

🍦 ⇢ name three good things about a character you hate

☁️ ⇢ what made you choose your username?

🐝 ⇢ tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

Hello my favorite ray of sunshine ☀️ No need to apologize lol, these are awesome!

🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction?

Tbh, it was a coping mechanism when I was a teenager. I wrote some band fanfiction (that shall never see the light of day), and that was kind of my gateway.

🛼 ⇢ describe your latest wip with five emojis

Oh you know what my current WIP is...💋🎳🤩🌼🥇

🥑 ⇢ you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

Oh my god lmao 😂 The first person that came to mind was @shadowcitrine

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love

@theteasetwrites was the reason I created a Tumblr in the first place (so I could read her work), so I'd always recommend her

🌻 ⇢ tag someone you appreciate but don't talk to on a regular basis

@francisofthespook is one of my favorite mutuals 🖤

🧸 ⇢ what's the fastest way to become your mutual?

Similar interests is always great (@gothic-pumpkin would know lol), but I love being mutuals with anyone in the Daryl/Norman writing community. Also, if you just have immaculate vibes. That's a bonus too.

📚 ⇢ what's the last thing you wrote down in your notes app?

For a future WIP..."You know how much I love when you wear your hair down, but when you wear it up, my favorite hair tie of yours is definitely my hand.”

❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

I saw this idea from someone here on Tumblr, but I'd love to see a fic where Ed is kicked from the camp instead of dying and joins the Saviors, then him and Carol meet again later down the line after all the growth she's done. I'd love to see that play out. Idk who I'd choose to write it.

🥐 ⇢ name one internet reference that will always make you laugh

The Tiktok where it's the guy arguing about The Wizard of Oz. "Hold on, hold on, hold on, HOLD ON. Her sister was a witch, right? And what was her sister? A princess! The wicked witch of the east, bro!" 😂

🍦 ⇢ name three good things about a character you hate

Oh God...well I'm a certified Shane Walsh hater. He's got good combat skills, I have to give him that. He's incredibly ruthless, and he's brave. That's the most I can give him lmao.

☁️ ⇢ what made you choose your username?

The 'dark elf' part comes from my favorite race to play as in my favorite video game (Skyrim). The 'vegan' part is because I'm vegan 😂 The name came to me one day months ago, and I thought it was super cute.

🐝 ⇢ tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them

@gothic-pumpkin I'm so glad I messaged you back then because now we're not just mutuals, we're friends, and our conversations always make my day 🖤

@negansbestie you always have the sweetest things to say & seeing you in my notifications always makes me smile 🤍

And of course you Krys. You've been nothing but kind and supportive since I joined this community, and it's been such an honor to collaborate with you and become friends 💜

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

I was once reading a Daryl smut where "underage" and "incest" were not mentioned in the warnings...clicked off as soon as I realized and was lowkey a little traumatized after.

Thank you for all the questions my love, you're the best 💓

#the dark elfs mutuals <3 #the dark elf rambles #ask games #answered asks #asked and answered

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isagrimorie · 4 months ago

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Where do you think AAA is going now? Whats your best guess for the ending, since you've been breaking things down each episode

I honestly don't know what's going to happen-- I have a friend who is GREAT at guessing things right from jump so I'm curious if she'll guess the outcome when she watches AAA.

But for me?

My best guess is that it will all circle back to the title Agatha All Along and somehow relate heavily to The Wizard of Oz... which I've seen the first half of the movie (and I need to finish that since it's only an hour and a half long only).

(I might also look into the theater release--not the movie-- of Into the Woods since Joanna Robinson of House of R keeps mentioning how this show reminds her of that Broadway musical).

In WandaVision Agatha was very heavily coded as the Wicked Witch of the East:

There's also the start of the show where 'Herb' quotes the Coroner at the start of the Wizard of Oz:

And then Rio skipping down the Road is a reference to Dorothy, Scarecrow, and Tin Man skipping down the Yellow Brick Road singing: 'We're off to see the Wizard.'

I even think Rio's whistling 'We're off to see the Wizard'.

The only thing I'm curious about is who is the Man Behind the Curtain.

In Wizard of Oz, the Man Behind the Curtain is revealed to be a fraud.

It could be Jen-- but let's not forget that Agatha is also a con artist, and who wears a lot of masks. I can believe that Agatha somehow set up a backup plan that will kick off the second Wanda's spell loosened.

(In the comics she's faked her death so many times, and even hid her soul somewhere.)

There is also the part where Lilia, Jen, and Alice seem to be the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow.

I'm not married to this theory but I can't just wave away how there's a lot of inspiration taken from The Wizard of Oz. They even call attention to it in the end credits.

In the Script Mag interview, Schaeffer even said that it's one of her touchstones:

My touchstones for the show are like, Wizard of Oz and Labyrinth and Dark Crystal and The Never Ending Story and Princess Bride.

(I should rewatch Dark Crystal, Never Ending Story, Princess Bride, and Labyrinth.)

But also in Wizard of Oz, the power was in them all along.

So is Agatha the Man behind the Curtain All Along? And where does Rio fall into all of this? Is Rio part of the Dark Crystal story, the Never Ending Story, Labyrinth? (You have no power over me!) or Princess Bride? (The Dread Pirate Robert lore).

Whatever and how ever this ends, as we go through the episodes to the end I'm going to remind myself to hold all theories loosely!

#agatha harkness #answered #Anonymous #speculation #tv: agatha all along #agatha all along spoilers #ish #rio vidal #ship: rio x agatha #ship: agatha x rio #ship: vidarkness #agatha spoilers #jennifer kale #lilia calderu #alice wu guilliver #teen (agatha)#coven of chaos #kathryn hahn #agatha is THAT witch

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bestworstcase · 1 year ago

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Wait could you go more into Salem being glinda? (<- person who is bad at allegories but loves your metas)

ok!!

step one is to clear out everything you’ve ever read about rwby’s ozian allusion from your brain because this fandom keeps trying to make it about the wizard of oz and it’s… nnnot about the wizard of oz. the book we’re going to be talking about as the primary text of reference is the second oz book, ‘the marvelous land of oz,’ which is about what happens after dorothy and the wizard go home.

the reason nobody can figure out who rwby’s “dorothy” is is… there is no dorothy. she’s in kansas and not really relevant to this story except insofar as her journey through oz resulted in the wizard’s departure and the end of the wicked witches of the east and west. she’s The Backstory. and—actually as i write this there, um, there IS a dorothy and now i have to go stare at a wall for a little while.

…

we’ll get there.

context:

at the end of the first oz book, ‘the wonderful wizard of oz,’ the wizard leaves and glinda, the good witch of the south, tells dorothy how to return home to kansas with the glass slippers (which fall off her feet and are lost forever whilst carrying dorothy home)

(the classic film makes something of a mess by combining glinda and the good witch of the north into a composite character, creating the problem of why glinda would not simply tell dorothy how to use the slippers right away. in the book, the good witch of the north sends dorothy to the wizard, who is secretly a fraud, and after he inadvertently leaves dorothy behind she is advised to travel south to consult with glinda instead.)

now, the wizard was the ruler of oz, so his departure created a political problem that he attempted to solve by appointing the scarecrow to rule in his absence. that choice is what ‘marvelous land’ is chiefly about because, you see, before the wizard came along, oz was ruled by a king named pastoria, who had an infant daughter named ozma. then the wizard deposed pastoria, and princess ozma disappeared.

the book’s protagonist is a boy named tippetarius (tip) who’s been raised all his life by the bad witch mombi. tip is in fact ozma, stolen by mombi and transformed into a boy to secure the wizard on the throne of oz. he has no idea; he just knows that mombi isn’t very nice to him and he wants to leave.

when he runs away, he takes with him jack pumpkinhead—a fellow tip made by carving a jack-o-lantern head for a wooden man, animated by mombi’s magic. their relationship is quasi-parental (jack calls tip “father” but tip is, you know, a boy and not especially fatherly). they’re joined by a living saw horse en route to the emerald city. the trio is briefly separated, with jack and the horse rushing ahead and being received by the scarecrow while tip is waylaid and meets general jinjur, who is leading an army of revolt to the emerald city to overthrow the scarecrow.

that happens. jinjur wins more or less by default because the soldier with green whiskers, who guards the emerald city’s gate, is too cowardly to fight them and simply lets them into the city. the scarecrow flees, along with tip, the sawhorse, and jack. this motley crew heads west to winkie country, once the domain of the wicked witch of the west, now ruled by nick chopper—the tin man. en route to winkie country, the scarecrow mentions to jack that pumpkins rot and jack spends the remainder of the story in a state of ever-present existential dread over his imminent decay.

anyway, nick accompanies them back to the emerald city, along with the woggle-bug—a very large, knowledgeable bug whom none of them like particularly and whose backstory involves transformation by a professor, an incident about which the woggle-bug has ambivalent feelings—whom they meet along the way. they’re hindered by various illusory traps mombi throws at them because she’s trying to get tip back under control.

reclaiming the emerald city from jinjur does not Go Well. they’re forced to flee again, briefly end up stranded in an inhospitable place on the far side of the desert and attacked by birds. the woggle bug saves them by using a silver wishing pill to repair their means of transportation so that they can reach glinda’s home, in southern quadling country.

they want glinda to help them restore the scarecrow to the throne of oz. glinda has other plans, because she’s spent all this time trying to find ozma and set right the wizard’s various injustices. she’s narrowed it down to mombi as the culprit, and upon learning that the witch has hidden herself in the emerald city, she… um, immediately lays siege to the emerald city to “starve it into submission” and flush mombi out, then chases her to the impassable desert at the edge of oz, ties a rope around her neck to silence her magical powers, and bodily drags her back to the emerald city to account for her wrongdoing on pain of death:

Glinda had been carefully considering what to do, and now she turned to Mombi and said: "You will gain nothing, I assure you, by thus defying us. For I am determined to learn the truth about the girl Ozma, and unless you tell me all that you know, I will certainly put you to death." "Oh, no! Don't do that!" exclaimed the Tin Woodman. "It would be an awful thing to kill anyone—even old Mombi!" "But it is merely a threat," returned Glinda. "I shall not put Mombi to death, because she will prefer to tell me the truth." "Oh, I see!" said the Tin Man, much relieved. "Suppose I tell you all that you wish to know,". said Mombi, speaking so suddenly that she startled them all. "What will you do with me then?" "In that case," replied Glinda, "I shall merely ask you to drink a powerful draught which will cause you to forget all the magic you have ever learned." "Then I would become a helpless old woman!" "But you would be alive," suggested the Pumpkinhead, consolingly. […] "You may make your choice," Glinda said to old Mombi, "between death if you remain silent, and the loss of your magical powers if you tell me the truth. But I think you will prefer to live." Mombi cast an uneasy glance at the Sorceress, and saw that she was in earnest, and not to be trifled with.

thus mombi is forced to tell the truth, remove the curse she placed on tippetarius (turning him back into ozma), and take glinda’s potion to strip all of her magical power away.

folds hands.

here are some facts about glinda:

she rules over quadling country—in the oz books, the cardinal kingdoms are all color-coded; northern gillikin country is purple, eastern munchkinland is blue, western winkie country is yellow, and quadling country? red. (glynda goodwitch’s purple is the first hint that she is not glinda, but rather the good witch of the north who believes in the wizard’s power. her absolute faith in ozpin is the second hint.)

glinda is, despite her youthful appearance, implied to be thousands of years old, and by any measure the most powerful sorceress in all of oz.

in demeanor, she is always calm and collected and resolutely truthful; so great is her dedication to the truth that she has no power over mombi’s magical deception and illusions, hence the need to force mombi to undo her own curse. she always knows when she’s lied to, but she can be fooled (fleetingly) by powerful illusions. and she can be utterly ruthless in pursuit of what she believes is right for oz.

she, as noted in the last post, is responsible for freeing the flying monkeys from their enslavement by the golden cap.

now!

the allusions rwby is making to ‘marvelous land’ are really very straightforward—much like cinder and cinderella or salem and maiden-in-tower stories. it is impossible to read the book with rwby in mind and not see the connections:

the god of light is mombi.

ozma is ozma; as ozpin, he has become the wizard (complicit in his own cursed imprisonment), and within oscar he’s tippetarius (a boy who’s lost his true self).

oscar is jack pumpkinhead, ozma’s heir (thus, symbolically, his “son”), brought to life at least symbolically by light’s power (he’s in the story at all because he’s ozma’s vessel), and preoccupied with existential dread inspired by the looming immediacy of his spiritual death.

qrow is the scarecrow, left to carry the symbol of ozpin’s authority in ozpin’s absence and forced to flee beacon, the “emerald city,” by

summer rose, who is general jinjur, holding beacon academy while she searches for the crown. (jinjur spends a considerable portion of the story trying to get the royal crown.)

lionheart is the soldier with green whiskers: not the fearful but truly courageous lion, but the cowardly old soldier who all but hands jinjur the keys to the city in his terror.

ironwood is the tin man, ruling over a land once subjugated by the wizard’s bitter enemy (pre-war, fascist mantle) now remade into a shining and prosperous kingdom under the command of the wizard’s ally (atlas)—and it is he who gives sanctuary to the scarecrow and tip’s party after the emerald city falls, and he who leads the failed first attempt to take the city back by force.

vacuo is the nest of jackdaws where the party ends up stranded, far from oz—they cross a desert to get there and i suspect the point of theodore is to signal that vacuo isn’t “in” oz but rather standing in for the deserts and the lands beyond. because dorothy is in kansas, you see. (he’s not the Real Dorothy, though, we’ll get there momentarily).

the woggle-bug is raven, the maiden of knowledge who knows the secret that will bridge the impassable divide between vacuo and salem; her knowledge of what summer did is the silver wishing pill which, incidentally, poisons tip when he tries to use it.

and salem is, of course, glinda: ancient and aloof and coldly ruthless in her pursuit of the truth, searching for ozma (<- note the congruence here with rapunzel searching for her prince in the wasteland!) and ready to GO TO WAR to bring the god of light to account for what he’s done. i really must emphasize the GOING TO WAR bit: the glinda of the books is not the soft, mistily benevolent lady the classic film makes of her. she has an extremely well-disciplined standing army which she marches on the emerald city with the explicit intention of delivering a siege to “starve it into submission.” mombi looks this woman in the eye, sees death staring back at her, and surrenders with a whimper. glinda is ruthless.

so it isn’t even “glinda would go to war if she thought it necessary” it’s that glinda does in fact go to war and rwby is, with salem, taking glinda’s decision to go to war to achieve her ends very seriously and putting that in a context where salem isn’t revered as a protector and loved by all. the only difference between salem and glinda is that glinda is beloved by the people of oz!

but i also promised you dorothy. so:

allow me to direct your attention back to what glinda does to mombi after ozma’s curse is lifted. mombi is made to drink a potion that causes her to forget all the magic she’s ever learned, leaving her to live as an ordinary old woman—but she is not left alone to suffer afterwards, because ozma makes arrangements to provide for her indefinitely.

this is, of course, what’s in store for the god of light. he’s going to ascend—that’s obvious—and the fairytale ‘the two brothers’ hints quite strongly that he’ll come back as a man (i’d wager a faunus specifically), leaving his power and memories of divinity behind and given a peaceful life in return. mombi’s resolution in ‘marvelous land’ offers a direct 1:1 comparison to ascension.

but what about the god of darkness?

he’s– he’s dorothy.

dorothy doesn’t appear in ‘marvelous land’ and she has no presence in the book whatsoever except as one of the two characters whose departure at the end of the last book created the circumstances that allow this story to occur: it is dorothy’s adventure that convinces the wizard to leave oz, and then she leaves too. the wizard—through mombi, the real power behind his throne—retains his influence and authority over the land of oz until she is forced to undo her wrongs, but dorothy is simply… gone. she went home, she’s remembered fondly by her friends, she has nothing whatsoever to do with this story, and the silver shoes that bore her home at the end of the last book fell from her feet and were lost forever.

(she does eventually make it back to oz, in a roundabout way, by accident. but for rwby’s purposes, and within the context of ‘marvelous land’ taken in isolation, dorothy is Gone Forever.)

afterans refer to the tree as home; they think of ascension as returning home to rest and find renewal after a long journey through the world outside. at the end of her journey through oz, she asks glinda to send her home, and glinda tells her:

“The Silver Shoes," said the Good Witch, "have wonderful powers. And one of the most curious things about them is that they can carry you to any place in the world in three steps, and each step will be made in the wink of an eye. All you have to do is to knock the heels together three times and command the shoes to carry you wherever you wish to go.”

and, as i noted, the shoes carry her home but are lost in the process, never to be found again.

glinda teaches dorothy how to go home. likewise, salem is a repetition of jabber—the argument between the brothers comes full circle—and through this experience dark realizes that he needs to “go home,” i.e. ascend. he’s been trapped in this same disagreement for thousands of years and nothing has changed; nothing will change unless he tries something new. he shatters the moon on his way out and, unlike his brother, there’s nothing to suggest he’s still present in this world or relevant to this story as anything but backstory… because he ascended and became something new.

(the spirits in the relics.)

(which in terms of the ozian narrative, represent the golden cap, which glinda receives from dorothy before she gives it to the king of the flying monkeys to set them all free, so the symbolic through line between dark-as-dorothy becoming the spirits-as-flying-monkeys through his and their relation to salem is relatively straightforward.)

anyway, behold.

toto.

#i just—brgdgks #DOROTHY.#''GIFT OF GOD.''#it’s another goddamned stealth pun

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toiletpotato · 2 years ago

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on one hand I think "yes add more nods to the 1939 film that's so fun I love the 1939 movie and it's the most recognizable one to the general public" but on the other hand I think "maybe don't add too many references to the 1939 film because if you give any critical thought to it, the plot of the two works together just barely line up and sense begins to unravel if you give it the smallest bit of thought: the entire movie takes place in the span of four songs in act 2"

for example:

No One Mourns the Wicked

Dear Old Shiz

The Wizard and I

What is This Feeling

Something Bad

Dancing Through Life

Popular

I'm Not That Girl

One Short Day

A Sentimental Man

Defying Gravity

Thank Goodness

The Wicked Witch of the East

Wonderful

I'm Not That Girl (reprise)

As Long As You're Mine

-> Dorothy's house lands in Munchkinland

-> Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are

-> Dorothy meets Glinda AND the Wicked Witch of the West; receives Ruby Slippers- I'll get you my pretty and your little dog too

Catfight scene

No Good Deed

-> Dorothy meets the Scarecrow

-> If I Only Had a Brain

-> We're Off to See the Wizard

March of the Witch Hunters

-> Dorothy and the Scarecrow pick apples

-> Dorothy meets the Tin Man

-> If I Only Had a Heart

-> The Wicked Witch of the West appears on top of the farmhouse and threatens them

-> We're Off to See the Wizard

-> Dorothy meets the Lion

-> If I Only Had the Nerve

-> We're Off to See the Wizard

-> Poppy scene

-> Arrive in the Emerald City

-> Horse of a Different Color

-> Surrender Dorothy

-> King of the Forest

-> Meet the Wizard

-> Go to the Haunted Forest

-> Dorothy gets captured

For Good

-> The friends save Dorothy

-> The Witch lights the Scarecrow on fire

-> The Witch gets melted

-> Dorothy and friends go back to the Emerald City

-> They receive their gifts

Glinda tells the Wizard to leave and Morrible to prison

-> The Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man are put in charge of the Emerald City in the Wizard's absence

-> The Wizard's balloon floats away

-> Glinda returns, click your heels 3×

-> Back to Kansas

Finale begins

The Scarecrow shows up in Kiamo Ko

Opens trapdoor

Says they can never return to Oz

Glinda thinks her friends are dead

End of Finale

End of show

Idk what I'm trying to say with all this- don't get it wrong I LOVE both properties dearly. It's just funny when one is framed as a prequel when that only applies to act 1 since the entire thing takes place in the background of act 2. All three (book/movie/musical) entities are very unique in their own special ways! It's fun to look at it closely and realize some little silly bits about it though :3

#wicked spoilers #wizard of oz spoilers #musical theatre #musicals #please add your thoughts #curious to know others' perspective on the matter #also let me know if I got anything wrong of course #ozposting

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rustycottoncandy · 1 year ago

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There's different versions of Heathers: The Musical.

In the West End version, there's a song called 'Never Shut Up Again', that is sung by Heather Duke, and one of its lines says "the witch is dead", referring to Heather Chandler.

At first, I didn't understand why they called her a witch, and then I watched the movie, where Veronica says that "Killing Heather would be like offing the wicked witch of the west... wait east. West!" In one of her diary entries.

Then, I listened to Never Shut Up Again and made the connection. I really like that they kept the reference, even if it was in another context! :D

#my stuff #heathers #heathers the musical #west end #west end heathers #heathers 1988 #heather chandler

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classicbarbie · 4 months ago

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wizard of Oz au ?? 🥺🥺🥺👀👀‼️‼️‼️‼️

i WISH i could say that one's for a mutual fandom but i don't think it is 😔 it's my favourite idea on that wip list tho. i will yap about it however! :D

it's set post-Dorothy in Oz (like 2-3 generations ahead) (also mostly referring to the 1985 Return to Oz movie) where all the characters are on a race trying to find the last location of the ruby/silver slippers.

The characters were supposed to be based on/related to Ozma, Oz, Princess Langwidere/Mombie, a wheeler, the Nome king, and the Wicked Witches of the East and West.

But. you know how at the end of the movies, all the people in Oz are people Dorothy knows in real life? Pull a 180, they go to the real world thinking the slippers might be hidden there and find out they have very ordinary lives (some of them anyway) that they forgot about and don't really want to return to.

Not sure what i was planning to happen in between but my notes say its supposed to be funny and they all hold hands and become friends at the end.

#thank you for asking :DDD #keyo talks #writing #not barbie

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the-witchs-cafe · 11 months ago

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Jade Harley from Homestuck would turn into a witch in Puella Magi Madoka Magica!

Cause of Witchification: Already living all in her lonesome in her grandpa's island after his unexplained death, she had nobody but her trusty dog, Becquerel, and her online friends to keep her company. Aside from that, all she was able to do before the events of the comic began was tend to her garden, engage in her little experiments, practice her rifle skills, and explore the kingdom of Prospit through her dreams.

Life within the Medium wasn't so easy, either. After having her dream self sacrifice herself to save John's, the dreams she had experienced were set in the dream bubbles; she was forced to witness the horrifying presence of the horror terrors the first time she had slumbered without her dream self, and is contacted by a dead Feferi during the second. After establishing a conversation with Tavros, he goes on to reveal that it was him who had killed her grandfather to save her; back when she was a little kid, she had almost shot herself with one of her grandfather's rifles, and he had to take control of Bec to redirect the location of the bullet towards him.

Oh, and not only was she tasked to breed the breed the perfect universe frog as the Space player of her team in such a short time due to the doomed state of their session - already causing enough stress as is -, but she had to do so whilst under the threat of, ya know, big bad Jack Noir and the possibility of him slicing her and the rest in half without them knowing. Her sprite was of little use at the time, either, since it was prototyped by using both Bec and the stuffed corpse of her dream self- who was not at all glad to be brought back to life.

Even after all that - after ascending to godhood during the Scratch and managing to save herself, John, and Davesprite from being completely erased from existence -, upon encountering the post-scratch selves of her fellow players' ancestors, she was immediately corrupted by none other than the Batterwitch herself; turning into a nasty, monstrous version of herself who is not afraid to maul her closest friends into strings of flesh. This very corruption, amongst other events, were what kicked off the events of the tragedy that is known as [S]: Game Over.

There's a whole lot that happens, and this is just the tip of the iceberg of the disaster that is Jade's life. Also, her classpect is the Witch of Space, and her story already possesses multiple allusions to the Wizard of Oz; upon ascending to God Tier, she appeared to be a mix of Dorothy and the Witch of the North, Glinda, complete with the ruby slippers. After becoming corrupted by the batterwitch, unfortunately, she had met her untimely end in a manner that directly references the fate of the Wicked Witch of the East; with a house smashing her to smithereens.

#Homestuck #puella magi madoka magica #jade harley #would witch out #we do not acknowledge the sick. perverted. borderline transphobic jokes made towards her in HS^2 #Nor do we acknowledge the fact that Rose literally cheated on Kanaya.#Actually- we're just gonna can HS^2 altogether from our minds #Now all of PMMM!Tumblr knows I'm/I was a Homestuck

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nifflering · 1 year ago

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THE BUMBLING FOOL - an essay/rant

(contains spoilers for The Wizard of Oz and Doctor Who episodes “Utopia”(s3/ep11) and “Sound of the drums” (s3/ep12))

To begin, I present to you some context…. So, recently I saw a post by @monica00 who posted an excerpt from the Master’s diary. The “MASTER OF ALL I SURVEY” is composed of several diary entries written by Simm!Master. In one of them, Day 42, he mentions carving the faces of several of his regenerations (Delgado, Ainley, himself and the “Wizard of Oz”) into Mount Rushmore. This led me to ponder who he’s referring to when talking about the wizard of Oz.

So, after thinking a bit, I finally figured out that he was talking about the Master as portrayed by Sir Derek Jacobi / the War Master. And that led me to composing this handy (and probably not that well written) list? Analysis? Essay? About the parallels between the character of “The Wizard of Oz” and Professor Yana/the Master.

Note: My information on the wizard of Oz is partly taken from deep crevices of my brain and the “Wizard of Oz” wiki, so I might be mixing up several portrayals of the character. Also, this is my personal interpretation, so yeah…

Enjoy, I guess…

This rant is dedicated to my current Doctor Who obsession and of course to @roxannepolice, my motivation for writing/ actually publishing this. Many thanks to you for feeding my thoschei obsession with your content and (ask game answers) and exsisting.

After Dorothy arrives in Oz via hurricane, she desperately “wishes” to get back home to Kansas. The Good Witch informs her about the approaching threat of the Wicked Witch (who is going to chase her down and try to kill her because she crushed her sister, the wicked witch of the east, with her house and stole her magical shoes. Which are all pretty valid arguments If you ask me.). Glinda says that in order to go home she should ask the “Wonderful Wizard of Oz” for help. Dorothy (having just killed someone) and her dog, Toto, go on their merry way, following the yellow brick road to the Emerald City.

On the way there she meets several other characters who also have a deep wish they want fulfilled by the wizard. There is the Scarecrow who wants to have a brain, a tin man who wants a heart and a Lion who wants courage.

After some tribulations they are finally able to have an audience with the Wizard, who appears as a giant floating head – in return for fulfilling their wishes the Wizard demands the Wicked Witch`s broomstick. (Character who appears as a giant floating head - Just like, oh, I don’t know a certain other character played by Derek Jacobi, cough cough the Metatron, cough, cough)

They defeat the Wicked Witch and return with the broomstick; he tells them to come back tomorrow – but Toto pulls back a curtain and the group discover that “The Great and Powerful Wizard” is just a guy operating a projector machine. He is projecting an image of himself, the image of a giant powerful magician capable of doing almost anything. When confronted with the fact that he is a humbug, he admits that he is but says that he’s – still a good man at heart. Although he promised to grant their wishes, he merely gives them “tokens” of the things they actually wanted. For example, a heart shaped clock for the metal man and a diploma for the Scarecrow.

The wizard finally decides to go home to Kansas, the same way he got there - in a hot-air balloon. He also offers to take Dorothy with him, fulfilling her wish. This ultimately doesn’t work as Toto runs off and Dorothy goes after him. Just before departing he makes Dorothy’s companions the rulers of Oz – effectively dumping all responsibility on them. In the end Dorothy manages to get back home with her magical shoes. However (depending on the version) Dorothy has fulfilled her wish on her own, none of her other friends have actually gotten their wish granted.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ Let’s take a look at the parallels between Yana and Oz.

“Utopia”, is the only episode Yana and Jacobi!Master appear in, it takes place on a desolate planet called Malcassario at “the end of the universe”, a time not even the timelords have reached.

Ten, Martha and Captain Jack (don’t ask me why he’s here just roll with it) go to explore and find nest-like structures carved into stone. Remnants of a civilisation that used to live here long ago. They get wrapped up in a hunt, a (human) man is being chased by the Futurekind, a tribe of savage hunters with sharp teeth. They join him in running to the only safe place around – a silo. Later a guard confirms that this is the place to go if you want to go to Utopia – the ultimate salvation from the end of the universe and the infinite darkness that surrounds them.

They later find out that a scatterbrained scientist called Professor Yana (and in extension his malmoothian assistant, Chantho) are supposed to make the rocket that’s supposed to take them to Utopia (a call which “came from across the stars over and over again. Come to Utopia.”), fly. The thing is, they have no clue how to do that – not that they are not scientists – but they do not have enough energy to lift off.

The surviving humans yearn “to preserve [themselves], to find a way of surviving beyond the collapse of reality itself.” They have come so far, survived all these great hardships, lost their friends, family, lives, everything. They presumably see Yana as a saviour, the one who will lead them to Utopia “where the sky is made of diamonds”. Yana is even willing to sacrifice himself for them, staying behind as the rocket takes off.

Every single human left in existence is relying on them to survive. They all want something from him. He is their own personal version of “The Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz”, able to grant their deepest wishes/ they are projecting their wishes and hopes on him. They aren’t scared that the myth of Utopia isn’t true but they fear that they won’t survive long enough to reach it.

(As I’m writing this I kind of realize that the Doctor (or the Master) can relate to all these humans, just like them they have lost everything, their home plane and their friend. But the doctor still hasn’t given up hope he’s still running away, desperately clinging to any human who wants to travel with him and secretly wishing that the last words of the Face of Boe “Know this, timelord. You Are Not Alone.”, are true.)

There are also some parallels between Martha and Chantho. In a private conversation while the doctor helps Yana power the rocket, Chantho reveals that she has known the Professor for a long time and that she adores him but does not think he notices. This kind of parallels Martha’s relationship with the doctor, she’s also in love with him but knows that this love will never be reciprocated, she’s not even sure if he’s noticed it. But, ultimately the loyal Chantho gets electrocuted by the Master after he has recovered his memories – blaming her for not noticing or asking about the watch (which contains his true identity) sooner. She falls to the floor – seemingly dead – but manages to shoot him in her last breath.

Her wish for love has not been fulfilled.

Let’s get back to the humans for a second: as soon as the Master becomes himself again, he lowers the protective measures against the Futurekind, locks the Doctor and Jack in the control room and removes a circuit board from the navigational system to Utopia. The rocket’s flight path is interrupted in the fate of the humans is left unclear. (At least until Sound of the Drums but isn’t the toclafane’s existence, bound to a singular metal dome a never-ending thirst for blood ingrained deep within you, a fate worse than death? Are they even human?)

The Doctor’s next, we will ignore Jack because he doesn’t really fit into the grand scheme and he’s literally just forcing himself into the plot.

Throughout the whole of new who up to this point it has been established that the Doctor is completely and utterly alone in the universe. In the episode “New Earth” (s2/ep1) a Novice teases the last words of the Face of Boe which will only be given to someone like him “a wanderer. To the man without a home. The lonely God.” In Gridlock (s3/ep3) he tells Martha about the time war, “There was a war. A Time War. The last great Time War. [..] They lost. Everyone lost. They’re all gone now, my family, my friends, even that sky.”.

Like I already mentioned, The Doctor is constantly craving companionship – he has throughout all his lives, especially in the new series he wants to alleviate the pain of the time war, the crippling loneliness that claws at him every second of every day, no matter how much he tries to escape it.

When Yana hears of a scientist, “a doctor of everything”, he is immediately overjoyed, he rushes to greet the doctor and whisks him away to his laboratory. He quickly introduces him to all his equipment but despite the doctor’s massive intellect, he can’t even think of any solution. Yana is obviously sad but apologizes, saying that there’s been “so little help”. To me this immediate joy and desire to meet the doctor is also partly the masters. He feels lonely as well – as reflected by Yana’s own feelings - “Never could keep time. Always late, always lost. […] Time and time and time again. Always running out on me. […] Oh, it's only an old relic. Like me.” Yana desires rest – eventually his own wish gets fulfilled, just like Oz escaping from Oz and going back to Kansas.

Generally, the Chameleon Arch creates a personification of some aspects of the user`s personality, for the Doctor his “worse traits” get amplified, for the Master his “better traits” are amplified, he’s willing to sacrifice himself just to save someone he doesn’t know and is kind to everyone he comes across.

When the Doctor sees Yana’s inventions, he’s starstruck. He’s finally found someone like him – an equal. “Oh, it's easy coming in at the end, but you're stellar. This is, this is magnificent. And I don't often say that because, well, because of me.” He recognizes how underappreciated Yana is in this time – “If you'd been born in a different time, you'd be revered. I mean it. Throughout the galaxies.”

They briefly take a break to talk about the constant never-ending drumming Yana hears in his head and this iconic look™ happens.

When Yana opens the watch and turns back into the Master, ten rushes to get to him, he begs him to open the door, to let him in “I'm begging you. Everything's changed! It's only the two of us! We're the only ones left! Just let me in!” But, the Master, the only other person like him in the entirety of the universe, escapes with his own Tardis.

The Face of Boe’s prophecy and the Doctor’s wish have come true. He’s not alone anymore.

But it doesn’t last as the Doctor (not even two episode later) has to watch as the Master dies in his arms refusing to regenerate because it would mean having to spend the rest of his lives imprisoned wit” him.

He’s alone again.

Professor Yana just like the Wizard has a lot of responsibility. They are both good men at heart. But are still not able to fulfil the wishes of the people relying on them.

But at the same time, they are both humbugs.

A humbug, as defined by Miriam Webster, is “a false or deceiving person or thing, a fraud”. Both Oz and Yana are humbugs in both meanings of the word. They are both “false people” with the Wizard being merely a projection controlled by Oz and Yana literally being a “false person”, a fake identity created by the Chameleon arch. They are both good men at heart – they want to or at least try to fulfil the wishes brought before them – but they both deceive their “subjects” – so they’re more morally grey. Yana tries his hardest to build a rocket and a system to power it made out of food scraps. He’s using technology the Doctor has never even heard of. Yana may be a good person, but ultimately the Master is not.

In the end, Jack, Martha and the doctor barely manage to escape with Jack’s vortex manipulator – his red sparkly shoes.

And that’s it. If you’ve managed to make it this far, you receive a “virtual” participation trophy, congrats. 😊 Have a good day and....

Until next time (maybe?)

#doctor who #Kansas = Gallifrey confirmed???#you know it's serious when i pull out the dictionary defintions #this is what you get when you have watched Utopia too many times #a win win #I would say #if someone has a better title #hit me up #Beyond excited for rogue encounters

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